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Washington, D.C. March 29, 2013. – The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Board of Directors considered and acted on initiatives ranging from e-instruction and the scope of its annual Comparative Data Report to the Veterinary Medical Centralized Application Service (VMCAS) and economic issues facing the profession during its March 2013 meeting in Washington, D.C.

The AAVMC’s data committee will begin revamping the Comparative Data Report to provide more focus on data that will provide the most strategic support for the member institutions, the association, and the profession.

The board heard a presentation on sharing on-line instructional resources and decided to evaluate the viability of a pilot program to be developed at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine in the future.

Board members also discussed plans for the AAVMC to work with the AVMA on the development of an e-Accreditation module to help streamline the production of institutional accreditation documents and learned of a series of improvements with the VMCAS program designed to make the admissions application process more efficient for both colleges and applicants.

The board also discussed the Feb. 24 New York Times article describing economic challenges facing the profession and efforts taken by association leaders to provide the newspaper with more accurate data regarding employment and salaries.

The board voted to join the One Health Commission, an independent organization designed to foster broader public recognition of the integrated nature of human, animal and environmental health. The AAVMC will have a seat on the board of directors of this organization.

The board heard an update on the activities of the newly formed Financial Literacy Task Force and was informed that Dr. Jim Lloyd from the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine had agreed to lead the task force. The board was also briefed on the status of the search for a new editor of the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education.
The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) is a non-profit membership organization working to protect and improve the health and welfare of animals, people and the environment by advancing academic veterinary medicine. Its members include all 33 veterinary medical colleges in the United States and Canada, eight departments of veterinary science, eight departments of comparative medicine, 12 international colleges of veterinary medicine, and three affiliate members. On the Web: http://www.aavmc.org